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| Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, National Biosafety Management Agency. Dr. Rufus E. Ebegba |
Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, National Biosafety Management Agency. Dr. Rufus E. Ebegba
has said that his agency was never a promoter of Genetically Modified Organisms
(GMOS) as generally believed by many Nigerians. He disclosed this during an
interactive session with editors of media houses on controversies surrounding
the new improved technology in Abuja.
He said that
it was sheer ignorance on the part of many, because majority of the masses do
not know the functions of NBMA, hence the mistake of seeing the agency as a
promoter of GMO products rather as a regulatory body.
He explained
that the agency was established by an Act of the National Assembly in 2015,
with the primary aim to provide a regulatory framework to adequately safeguard
human health and the environment from potential adverse effects of this modern
biotechnology.
He added that
GMO is a technology aimed at harnessing the potential of modern biotechnology
and its derivatives for the benefit of Nigerians, noting that the agency was
not established to stop them but to ensure that only GM products that are safe
for humans and the environment are approved for release and use in Nigeria.
The DG
stressed that the agency owed it as a duty to Nigerians to ensure that any
product approved for importation or commercialisation was safe for humans and
the environment, adding that the agency’s staff and families also go to the
same market like other Nigerian and that “they all stand the danger of being
affected if we did not do a proper job by ensuring approved products for the
safety of everyone.”
He reiterated
that the agency had never taken any decision in isolation but had always tried
to carry the society along through the involvement of professionals in its
decision making, especially during the review of application, adding that the
agency had two committees, the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) and the
National Biosafety Technical Sub-committee, (NBTS) which are involved in the
processes. “These committees are made up of professionals and experts from the
academia, line government agencies, civil society groups and other
stakeholders, who painstakingly analyse the applications, and review the risk
management and risk assessment plans before a decision is made’’, he explained.
Ebegba said
that the “GMO crops so far approved by the NBMA were not yet in the market.
Even though approvals have been given for their commercial release, they still
have to undergo other instant procedures such as through the Variety Release
Committee and the National Seed Service. We have only granted permit for
commercial release of Bt Cotton insect resistant and Bt Cowpea modified for resistance
to Maruca insect pest. Other approvals given are for the importation of GM
soybeans and GM Maize for food and feed processing.’’
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